The latest statistics from the 2011 Census showed a positive development in female literacy. More number of females have become literate compared to males in the decade 2001-2011.
Any person aged 7 and above is considered literate, if he or she can read and write, with understanding, in any language. The largest increase in literacy rate was noticed in Dadra & Nagar Haveli by 18.6 points - significant growth from 57.6 per cent in 2001 to 76.2 per cent in 2011 and Bihar by 14.8 points - from 47.0 per cent in last census in 2001 to 61.8 per cent in 2011.
“The gap between the literacy rate in urban and rural areas is steadily declining in every census. In Census 2011, the gap stands at 16.3 points. As per latest statistics, the literacy rate among urban population is 84.1 per centwhile it is 67.8 for rural population,” RGI census data stated. Analysing the census data since 1961, the report suggested that the three-fourth of the population of age 7 years and above is literate in the country. Four out of five males and two out of every three females in the country are literate. The total population of literate females in the country was 224.2 million and inthe past one decade it increased to 328.8 million, showing a significant addition of 104.6 million literate females in the country.
The total number of children is 164.5 millions, about 660,000 more than the number recorded in 2001. The child sex ratio is an indicator of the future trends of sex ratio. The sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years attempts to bring out the recent changes in society in its attitude and outlook towards the girl child. As per the RGI’s analysis the sex ratio in India has been historically negative or unfavourable to females. However, states having historically low sex ratio such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh have shown appreciable increase in the sex ratio in census 2011. Majority of the states identified as gender-critical for special attention have shown an upward trend in the sex ratio.